DATE: Thursday, June 26, 1997               TAG: 9706260388

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   47 lines

2 TEACHERS DISCIPLINED AFTER SCHOOL FIELD TRIP A NORFOLK DISTRICT SPOKESMAN COULD NOT SAY WHAT ACTION WAS TAKEN.

Two Norview Middle School sixth-grade teachers have been disciplined after an investigation into complaints of teacher misconduct during a weeklong field trip to Puerto Rico last month, school officials said.

School district spokesman George Raiss said teachers Nova Jean Corillo and Donna Blount were not fired. He could not say how, or exactly why, the teachers were disciplined after the investigation into the trip. Students have said the trip was disorganized and that they smelled alcohol on teachers' breath.

Lolita Caboteja, the long-term substitute teacher who planned the trip, was not disciplined after the investigation, Raiss said.

``Appropriate disciplinary action was taken by the principal for the teachers in question,'' Raiss said. ``We can't say too much. That would open up their personnel file.''

Disciplinary action includes a range of options including a conference with the principal or a written or verbal warning.

Corillo and Blount could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Caboteja said she wasn't aware the investigation had ended and did not want to comment.

Principal Frank Steadman initiated the investigation when a parent, who received phone calls from her children while they were in Puerto Rico, called with concerns about the teachers, Raiss said.

The group of three teachers, eight students and a 20-year-old sister of a student arrived in San Juan on May 25 for firsthand study of Spanish culture. The group quickly experienced problems, including finding hotel rooms, Caboteja has said. They changed hotels twice before locating a place to sleep, she said.

Students said they stood by and watched as the teachers argued because of problems. Some students said the teachers argued throughout the week about which sites to visit and how long to stay.

One student, Gordon Meekins, 13, said the group visited one rain forest for a short time and El Morro, a historic fort. But he said they spent a lot of time on the beach.

His mother, Darlene Meekins, whose 20-year-old daughter was also on the trip and who complained to school officials, said Wednesday she had not been informed of any disciplinary action regarding the teachers. MEMO: Staff writer Michelle Vernon-Chesley contributed to this story. KEYWORDS: FIELD TRIP NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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